Ballast Point, a craft brewery started in Southern
California, opens its new location on Wednesday.

INSIDER visited the family-friendly restaurant ahead of
opening to sample the food and beer.

San Diego beer company Ballast Point is coming to Disneyland
Resort's Downtown Disney District.
Chosen by Disney as the first-ever brewery to grace the sidewalks
of the theme park property, the brand new eatery opens Wednesday.

INSIDER visited the restaurant for an exclusive preview of the
food and beverage offerings guests will soon be able to sample at
the family-friendly "brewery and kitchen," including duck confit
nachos, vegan lettuce cups (made with the popular "Impossible"
meat), and over 50 varieties of beer.

Keep reading for a look at what you can expect from Downtown
Disney's newest destination.

The Ballast Point Brewery & Kitchen is right in the middle of Disneyland's bustling Downtown Disney District.

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The entrance leads up to the second-story restaurant and patio.

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Kim Renfro/INSIDER

With more and more alcohol options popping up in Downtown Disney
and California Adventure (no booze is served in Disneyland proper
yet), we can see Ballast Point becoming a great place for adult
Disney goers to sit back and have a few great beers without
feeling trapped among the hubbub of the parks.

Downtown Disney is open to the public. Visitors have to park and go through a small security area to get inside, but there’s no ticket purchase required.

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Here's where you can find the Ballast Point Brewery and Kitchen in Disneyland Resort.

This is about halfway down the stretch of Downtown Disney, which
runs from the Disneyland Hotel to the entrances of the Disneyland
and California Adventure park.

Downtown Disney has undergone some changes since first opening in
2001.

Though some iconic restaurants like Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen
and the La Brea Bakery have been there from this start, others
like the Rainforest Cafe and House of Blues have since closed.
Ballast Point is one of the newcomers to the block as the area
becomes more modernized.

The new location will sit on top of another soon-to-be eatery, Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer.

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The entrance for Ballast's new location is right next to Wetzel's Pretzels.

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Kim Renfro/INSIDER

Taking up the whole second story, the restaurant includes a bar,
dining room, brewing station, and outdoor bar with patio seating.

Inside the Ballast Point, there is a full dining area where guests will be able to reserve tables in advance.

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It may take a few weeks for Ballast to begin accepting reservations through the Disney Dining website and app.

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Jenna Peffley

As you can see in the back corner, the space includes a small
brewing facility where Ballast will eventually be crafting an
exclusive beer for the Downtown Disney location. They haven't
landed on a specific type yet (Ballast makes dozens of beer
varieties) but brewing manager Chris Klein is experimenting with
something any beer aficionado would enjoy.

"It will be a more approachable, easy drinking beer," brewing
manager Chris Klein told INSIDER. "I know that we've toyed around
with a couple different styles. I think it will be more of like a
lighter, hoppy ale. Not overly bitter."

Ballast Point will be offering a rotating selection of its award-winning beers. If you can’t pick just one, there are flights available.

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You can choose from four or eight-ounce pours.

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Kim Renfro/INSIDER

Ballast's beer menu is helpfully sectioned to help you narrow
down your choices. "Hops, Hops, and More Hops" is where you'll
find the gold-medal winning Sculpin IPA, while Ballast's
Amber Ale sits under the "Rich and Malty" category.

We sampled the Grunion Pale Ale, Sculpin IPA, California Amber,
and the Blackberry Sour Wench. Our favorite was the Sour Wench, a
sour ale that was a perfect balance of tart and sweet. Ballast
also make two variants on this sour ale - one aged in white wine
barrels and another in red wine barrels.

The signature west coast style IPA, the Sculpin, was also really
tasty. It's a lighter IPA, which makes it more appealing to
anyone who doesn't like a really hoppy or bitter brew.

The unique challenge of Ballast's Downtown Disney location is how customers are going be coming from all over the world.

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Ballast has several locations in Southern California, including San Diego and Long Beach.

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Kim Renfro/INSIDER

Ballast Point's other breweries typically have a rotating set of
regulars, just like any bar. But in Downtown Disney, the
clientele will be made up of mostly of tourists coming to visit
the theme park.

"It's been a lot of figuring out how we are going to make
everybody that comes in here happy," Klein said. "Thankfully
we'll have sometimes upwards of 50 to 60 beers on tap, so people
coming in can try our interpretations of styles that they might
be more familiar with, like Midwest style beers or East coast."

The staff are all eager to see the 4,000 square-foot space fill
up with thirsty visitors who might want to know a bit more about
beer.

"If I'm talking about a beer, it's fun to be able to run over [to
the bar] to pour them a sample and have them try it," Klein said.
"Because that is going to be a lot more helpful - they can be
receptive and understand what you're saying versus just
explaining to them."

One of the restaurant's best features is an outdoor patio dining area.

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This is a really great new spot for folks to come and enjoy the Southern California weather while taking a break from the park.

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Jenna Peffley

There will be two cabanas available for rent if you want a more
private group experience. INSIDER was also told that you get a
partial view of the the nightly Disneyland fireworks from the far
side of this patio - a rare treat.

This area will be first-come, first-served seating with full food and bar counter service.

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There are seats along the bar and then tables that easily sit two, four, or even groups of six and more.

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Kim Renfro/INSIDER

Many of the Downtown Disney eateries require diners to wait for
full-service tables. This patio section is likely to get crowded
with parkgoers who want to grab a quick drink or bite without
making reservations or waiting for a table.

Then comes the really good stuff — brewery food.

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These nachos come with a blue cheese sauce and a syrup made from the Blackberry Sour Wench ale.

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Kim Renfro/INSIDER

From house-made pimento cheese and flatbreads to a steak burrito
and more, Ballast has a diverse menu designed with the tourists
of Disneyland in mind. They also offer up two fantastic
vegetarian options that use Impossible Foods' "meatless but
bleeding" beef.

"The thought process for the menu was to have food that
represents Ballast Point as a body," executive chef Colin
MacLaggan told INSIDER. "And since the clientele here is pretty
much a melting pot of America, we didn't want to leave anything
out."

The food items, many of which have sauces or batters made with Ballast Point beers, are designed to compliment the large beer selection.

"We try to get flavors in our menu that work very well with our
food," executive sous chef Joey Lerma added. "We have very bold
beer flavors. Our food needs to be able to match and be on point
with that."

The Ballast Point wings, for example, have a "Spicy Sculpin
Buffalo" glaze made with the brewery's signature IPA.

"I always say that since our beer portfolio is so vast and
interesting, that the food has to be equally as vast and
interesting," MacLaggan said. "So we kind of self-compete against
our own selves, our other half."

Though nearly every Disneyland Resort restaurant has vegetarian options, Ballast Point's menu is one of the most diverse and veggie-friendly we've come across.

"Vegetarian food and vegan food does not have to be bland," Lerma
said. "You get a lot of places where [the meatless option] would
be steamed vegetables and rice. It doesn't need to be like that.
During my background with cooking, I used to get a lot of people
that requested vegetarian food and we would have to get creative
with that. You can see that reflective in our menu."

The Impossible beef is prepared like ground meat, with fresno chilis and pickled peanuts.

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A closer look at the meatless "beef" that comes with the lettuce cups.

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Kim Renfro/INSIDER

The Impossible Foods protein is
served with hoisin and sriracha, as well as julienned carrots and
pickled onion. It was fresh, spicy, and tasty - perfect for
omnivores and vegetarians alike.

"[Some restaurants] just have a whole section of vegetarian
stuff," MacLaggan said. "We're not gonna go that extreme, per sé,
with our menu diversity, but we wanted to plug in some things
that weren't so cliché."

Ballast also offers meatless flatbreads as well as "soyrizo" and roasted cauliflower tacos.

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One of the lettuce cups assembled.

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Kim Renfro/INSIDER

These options, along with the Impossible burger and sweet potato
cavatelli pasta, make for a much more diverse set of options for
anyone looking to have a meat-free meal.

Just like the beer selection, the Ballast Point kitchen will rotate its food offerings.

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The Ballast Point wedge salad comes with bacon and heirloom cherry tomatoes.

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Kim Renfro/INSIDER

"We're still keeping our philosophy and we'll be changing the
menu seasonally," MacLaggan said. "It's not going to be the
all-year-round menu like some of these places have. We're going
to stay to our chef roots."

This Californian approach to cooking with what's available means
guests will be able to return year-round to different offerings.

"We go heavier in the fall/winter and lighter in the
spring/summer," MacLaggan said. "So you'll see braises and big
sauces and bigger flavors in the fall and winter, and then by
spring you'll see some more vinaigrettes [...] something lighter
more colorful."

The Ballast Point Brewery and Kitchen opens in Downtown Disney on Wednesday, January 16.

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The main dining area of Downtown Disney's newest eatery.

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Kim Renfro/INSIDER

"I think the best part of the experience is still to come," Chef
MacLaggan said. "Getting to see the clientele show
up, and then knowing that they're probably not going to be here
again, but super stoked that you're a part of their enjoyment,
their vacation, and their whole experience through Disney."